In the summer of 2000, when CBS first locked people in a fishbowl of a house and televised almost every second of their lives, there was a spate of bad press when a newspaper discovered that a participant had ties to the New Black Panther Party. The network quickly issued a statement that said it “will not tolerate nor permit any hate speech on the program,” called “Big Brother.”Add to Portfolio

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Bill Inoshita/CBSAaryn Gries has lost a modeling contract because of her use of racial and gay slurs.Since then, reality has intruded. This summer, in the show’s 15th iteration, several participants have been overheard making racist, sexist and homophobic comments about others in the house, and in the process they have reignited the oldest debate in reality television: whether the show’s producers are appropriately and fairly depicting real life in their quest to provoke and entertain viewers.

The slurs were shown on the Internet (where paying subscribers watch live feeds from the house around the clock — “See what we can’t show you on TV,” the CBS Web site says) but were not immediately on the television version of the show, whose producers distill the action into three hourly episodes each week. This troubled some loyal followers of “Big Brother,” because television viewers were seeing an incomplete picture of the participants. On a show with a $500,000 grand prize, perceptions and reputations are important.

“Why not show these people for who they actually are?” wrote the RealityBlurred.com blogger Andy Dehnart, who has cataloged what he called a torrent of offensive comments since the Season 15 premiere on June 26. “After all,” Mr. Dehnart wrote, “producers and network executives all approved them and decided to give them 90 days of attention while using them to earn money.”

Among the remarks: GinaMarie Zimmerman, who is white, was heard insulting African-Americans and equating them to “tokens.” When she referred to an African-American housemate as dark, another white contestant, Aaryn Gries, responded, “Be careful what you say in the dark; might not be able to see that bitch.” About an Asian-American participant, Ms. Gries was heard saying: “Dude, shut up. Go make some rice!” Ms. Gries was also heard criticizing an openly gay contestant, using an epithet to argue that no one would vote for the participant. Another contestant, Spencer Clawson, has uttered words, unpublishable here, targeting gays and women.

As the controversy bubbled up, CBS emphatically said that it did not condone the prejudicial comments. It said the same thing in 2011, the last time there was outrage about hateful words on the show’s Internet stream. But to some viewers, this time felt different.

“I’ve watched all but two seasons of ‘Big Brother’ and have never seen players so vocal and unapologetic about their bigotry,” said Ragan Fox, an associate professor of communication studies at California State University, Long Beach, who is gay and was a contestant in 2010.

On June 30 he wrote an open letter to the producers urging them not to sanitize the television version of the show. “What’s the point,” he asked, “in casting gay, Asian-American and African-American characters if producers are going to edit out the racism and homophobia these contestants deal with while playing the game?”

Last Wednesday’s “Big Brother” came and went without any mention of the controversy. On Sunday, though, the show addressed some of it head-on, in a way that is unusual on broadcast television.

“It was ultimately part of the story in the house,” said Allison Grodner, an executive producer of “Big Brother” since its inception, who has defended the show’s choice to cut out isolated offensive comments in past seasons.

In this case Ms. Gries became the household’s temporary leader, causing several contestants to talk about how they disapproved of her abusive language. “That gave us a launching pad to be able to tell this story,” Ms. Grodner said. Several of the offensive clips were broadcast.

“I do feel it would be irresponsible to put hate on the airwaves just for hate’s sake,” she added. “You need to have some sort of context.”

In a statement on Monday afternoon, CBS said: “We are very mindful of the important issues that have been raised by these recent comments. With regard to the broadcast version, we are weighing carefully issues of broadcast standards, an obligation to inform the audience of important elements that influence the competition, and sensitivity to how any inappropriate comments are presented.”

Sunday’s show omitted some of the misogynistic and homophobic language used by others in the house, like Mr. Clawson, but it could come up in future episodes if it becomes part of the season narrative. (The show will end its season on Sept. 18.)

“I hope this establishes a precedent for future seasons,” Mr. Fox said in an e-mail after the episode. “When production turns a blind eye to racism, sexism and homophobia, they become complicit in the very forms of hate speech they actively deny.”

Rebutting some of the online fury of the past few days, Ms. Grodner said the show’s producers do not actively “look for people who might say things like this.” She suggested that “Big Brother” was simply mirroring real life, as ugly as it sometimes is.

“Your neighbor is probably using racial slurs behind closed doors, no offense to your neighbor,” she said, pausing before adding, “There’s a very important discussion here that people will hopefully have as a result of all this.”

In the meantime, the controversy has proved costly to Ms. Gries and Ms. Zimmerman. The modeling agency that represented Ms. Gries has dropped her contract — unbeknown to her, of course, since the people in the house don’t hear from the outside world — and she has been nicknamed “Klan Barbie” by some followers of the show.

Ms. Zimmerman has lost her job as a pageant coordinator. “We are actually thankful that this show let us see GinaMarie for who she truly is,” her employer said in a statement, “as we would never want her to be a role model to our future contestants.”

When are Rob and Trevor going to address the elephant in the room and discuss the racial controversy on the show? They've never shied away from issues before so I hope they come through. I'm concerned the ratings are an all time low and as a major fan, feel the show needs to get ahead of this issue instead of being an ostrich. Spencer needs to go NOW and I believe the producers can use this drama to actually increase interest. The mistake would be to pretend nothing is wrong leaving all commentary to TMZ and the Huffington Post and thus irrelevant. Allison Grodner needs to take a cue from the meltdown of AMERICAN IDOL this season.

"Big Brother" star Spencer Clawson is not a Hitler-loving bigot -- he's just saying terrible things so his racist friends in the house will like him ... so says Spencer's mother.

TMZ spoke with Donna Clawson ... who insists her son wasn't showing his true colors when "BB" cameras caught him praising Hitler and referring to a gay housemate as "Kermit the f**."

"Spencer really is a great guy," she tells us ... "This is not a guy that’s a bigot or a racist. And he’s not that way at home. He's a great guy."

So why would Spencer say such horrible things? Mama Clawson says her son is just trying to fit in with the racist, homophobic people in the house ... because it's the only way he can win the reality show.

"If you're in a group, you go along with the group talk and that is what is happening with him."

She adds, "This is a reality show. The purpose of the show is scheming behind each other's backs."

"Spencer might not be perfect but he's my son. All those kids are somebody's child. He's a good guy."

I don't think we should waste one more minute worrying about what these fools are saying in the house. Every time I hear another stupid comment by one of the house guests I just consider that CBS is giving them free rein and enough rope to hang themselves. They are doing a superb job of ruining themselves for life.

Listening to RFF 403 comments about the "c" bomb being used.And stating the Uk Big brother would be where it is used all the time .WOW Im not really a fan of Uk BB any more but at least our channel would have the balls to acknowledge the racism and deal with it.

Logged

I get knocked down ,but I get up again,Your never going to keep me down

I know production isn't supposed to get involved. But, we all know that they do help steer the game. Why can't production intervene and school these kids? I feel like they have an obligation to protect them at this point for what they will face when they re-enter the re world. I know its deserved, but some of them are just plain ignorant and don't even or aren't capable of comprehending why they are so offensive on so many different levels.

Logged

A lot of warm vulgarity is incomparably preferable to a little bit of pinched niceness.~ Caitlin Thomas

Third 'Big Brother' Contestant Set To Lose Job Over Racist & Homophobic Comments

A third contestant on CBS reality series Big Brother has come under fire for offensive comments he made that were caught on tape during the show's 24/7 live feed online.

Spencer Clawson, like HouseGuests Aaryn Gries and GinaMarie Zimmerman, has made several off-key remarks, including gay slurs and praising Adolf Hitler for being a "gifted speaker."

Clawson's employer, Union Pacific Railroad, has now begun the process of terminating the employment of the 31-year-old train conductor over his bigoted comments on the show.

"The values represented by Spencer Clawson's comments during the Big Brother show do not at all align with Union Pacific's values," a statement from the company reads. "Mr. Clawson is on unpaid leave of absence while participating on Big Brother. Union Pacific does not condone his comments."

The company says it is looking into the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) terms with the transportation union that represents Clawson.

Yep. I swore I'd never watch BB again...several seasons ago...and here I am. Really not the best season so far, imho. I'll take Survivor any day over BB. Considering the cast and controversy, Julie Chen is handling it well...so far anyway.

"Big Brother" star Spencer Clawson is not a Hitler-loving bigot -- he's just saying terrible things so his racist friends in the house will like him ... so says Spencer's mother.

TMZ spoke with Donna Clawson ... who insists her son wasn't showing his true colors when "BB" cameras caught him praising Hitler and referring to a gay housemate as "Kermit the f**."

"Spencer really is a great guy," she tells us ... "This is not a guy that’s a bigot or a racist. And he’s not that way at home. He's a great guy."

So why would Spencer say such horrible things? Mama Clawson says her son is just trying to fit in with the racist, homophobic people in the house ... because it's the only way he can win the reality show.

"If you're in a group, you go along with the group talk and that is what is happening with him."

She adds, "This is a reality show. The purpose of the show is scheming behind each other's backs."

"Spencer might not be perfect but he's my son. All those kids are somebody's child. He's a good guy."

Apparently Spencer's mom doesn't realize he's a grown man and shouldn't be sucked into a pattern of poor behavior simply to be liked by his "friends" in the house. I've seen 10-year-old kids behave more grown up and stand up to their friends for picking on people, so this is a poor excuse. As a parent I understand no one wants to think their child can behave so badly, but you can't make excuses for that behavior.

While I find his comments disgusting, I'm still not sure what in the CBA would allow the railroad to fire him for his comments. Other than the comments about drug use (I think I read he had made those comments as well) which could prompt his employer to make any random drug tests a little less random and more frequent the rest of his comments may not be actionable. He is definitely a liability, but unless there are complaints about him making those types of comments while on the job, to fellow employees or passengers I'm not sure they can just fire him.

Edit: I left out the part that while I think it is unlikely I would love for there to be something in their policy manual governing outside behavior.

Well It Appears David is still rooting for Aaryn, from TMZ and the ongoing BB Saga Files:

David From 'Big Brother' Still Rooting for Aaryn ... Despite the Racist Stuff

Evicted "Big Brother" guest David Girton -- the blonde surfer dude who made out with Aaryn -- says he's still rooting for his on-screen flame ... despite all the racist crap she's said inside the house.

David -- who got the boot in week 1 -- tells TMZ he didn't hear many of Aaryn's offensive comments when he was in the house ... but says he was "shocked" when he watched the footage at home.

"People are saying I'm racist too because I was with Aaryn," David says ... "That is not me."

David says he's not convinced Aaryn's a bigot -- but will continue to watch the show to see her "true colors." In fact, he says he's still rooting for Aaryn to win.

So how does Dave's MOTHER feel about his BB experience?

“My mom is glad I got off the show early. There are a lot of mean people on the show. She was worried that if I was on the show longer, they would have an impact on me."